About Us

Susan Sam
Susan Sam, 2021. Photo by Joe Sam.
      Photo by Kate Butterfield-Halbadel

Joe and I were both born in Detroit and moved to rural Michigan in 1985. Joe is a retired Ford Motor Company skilled tradesman and USMC Vietnam veteran. As a visual artist, I exhibited my paintings and photographs throughout Michigan.

In 2003 our first groundhog, Wilhelmina, took up residence on our property. Joe had heard woodchucks were destructive. They would damage the foundation of our buildings and destroy our gardens! But as we watched Wilhelmina preparing her home and raising her babies, we became intrigued. We agreed to let her and her family stay. At least temporarily. With that decision, our lives changed!

Our goal in this project is to capture groundhogs’ most natural behavior through photos and videos. To that end, we shoot photographs and videos through the windows of our house. Additionally, we’ve installed trail cameras in and outside our barn. The barn burrow is a hibernation, mating den, and natal burrow. The trail cameras capture activity we can’t see from our windows. We also photograph various other wildlife on our property including red foxes, deer, skunks, raccoons, rabbits, possums, squirrels, wild turkeys, and other birds.

The woodchucks and other animals have eaten some of our flowers. We’ve had no structural problems with the foundations of any of our buildings. We have had holes dug by the groundhogs in inconvenient or unwanted areas, which we have successfully filled in. So yes, co-existing with groundhogs is not without problems, but none warrant their removal from our property. We would miss them if they were all to disappear from our property.

Joe and I hope visitors to Woodchuck Wonderland have gained a better understanding of free-living wild groundhogs. And please check out Woodchuck Wonderland Groundhogs on Facebook.